Opening shots set to be fired in season's first World Cup in Argentina

New Delhi(The Uttam Hindu): Competitions for the international shooting season’s first ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun are set to commence in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, and taking aim first-up will be the men’s pistol and the men’s and women’s skeet shooters at the Tiro Federal Argentino de Buenos Aires shooting range, on Thursday. Three Indians, Saurabh Chaudhary, Ravinder Singh, and Varun Tomar will line up in front of the targets in men’s 10m air pistol on Day One of the competition, which will be the first of 15 finals with a top-class field looking to give their respective countries a golden start to the tournament and the year. The men’s and women’s Skeet competitions, meanwhile, will have only the first two qualifying rounds comprising 25 targets each played out on Day One.

Over 400 shooters, including a galaxy of reigning and former Olympic and World champions from as many as 45 countries, will compete for 15 gold medals on offer, looking to begin the year on a high. This includes a block of 23 athletes who will be participating as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) informed in a release on Tuesday. The ISSF World Cup stages, after the Olympics and the World Championships, are the highest level of competition in the sport. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) had announced a 35-member team for the Argentina World Cup, with double Olympic bronze medalist Manu Bhaker competing in two individual and one mixed team event. Nine of the 35 will be in action on Thursday.

The first final

The men’s air pistol field is 40-strong and is probably the only one having all three Paris medallists listed to start in China’s Olympic Champion Xie Yu and Italians Federico Maldini and Paolo Monna who won silver and bronze respectively. If that was not competition enough for the Indian trio led by the mercurial Saurabh Chaudhary, albeit on an international comeback trail, the likes of former Olympic champion Christian Reitz of Germany, Serbian legend Damir Mikec, Brazil’s Olympic medalist Filipe Almeida Wu and the consistent and talented Kazakh Nikita Chiryukin, will make a medal in this first final, truly coveted.

Indian coach Samaresh Jung was confident of the performance of his wards, saying, “They have been competing and training hard throughout the year, not only in our camps and after reaching here. Some of the boys also had a fun workout competing in some local matches that were organized between South American nations who had arrived early. They know what is expected of them, and we are confident of a good showing. At this level, the field is always strong.” Besides Saurabh, Varun Tomar and Ravinder Singh will be vying for medals for India. Skeet shooters look to start well In Skeet as well, India have a relatively young and talented squad at the peak of their powers and a good showing can be expected. The women’s squad has Olympian Raiza Dhillon, Indian number one and national record holder Ganemat Sekhon, and Darshna Rathore, all individual medalists at this level.

Yet another Paris Olympian, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, will be at the forefront of the men’s challenge along with the talented Bhavtegh Gill in his rookie senior year. Gurjoat Khangura will lend experience to the trio. Coach Amrinder Singh Cheema said ahead of D-day, “It’s been five days of training here and we had to overcome jet lag as well. The conditions are challenging, but the same for everyone, and a good day one will hopefully bring out the best in our shooters.” Double Olympic champion Gabriele Rossetti will be the favourite in the men’s skeet while American legend Kimberly Rhode will lead a usually strong US squad in the women’s event. Chile’s reigning Olympic champion, Francisco Crovetto Chadid, is also listed to start in the women's skeet.

Shooting stars descend on Argentina The year’s first World Cup stage is likely to see a galaxy of shooting stars descend on the Argentine capital. The biggest of them, of course, is seven-time Olympic champion Kimberly Rhode of the USA, who will be leading a strong American contingent, especially in the shotgun discipline. Other top shooting nations like China, Italy, Australia, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany are well represented. Many strong Russian shooters also form part of the AIN block, and their presence on the international stage after a gap might change a lot of calculations.